Country dossier · ISR

Israel

Advanced space-faring nation

A sourced snapshot of Israel's posture in space — capability, institutions, orbital assets, law and people. Every figure carries its primary source; gaps are shown honestly, never filled with invented data.

Open Israel in the interactive workspace →

Capability tier

Advanced space-faring nation

Launches to orbit from its own territory: yesLaunch sites on record: 1Nationals who have flown: 2

Source: ALL IN SPACE capability ladder · see methodology

Space agency

Israel Space Agency (ISA)

National space agency · established 1983 · two-source verified

Source: UNOOSA · Worldwide Space Agencies directory

Satellites (owner state)

24

Counted from the GCAT May 2026 snapshot. The interactive workspace shows a live CelesTrak figure, which uses different owner-attribution rules and will differ.

Source: GCAT · General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects (J. McDowell) · May 2026 snapshot

Ground stations

7

Source: ALL IN SPACE curated ground-station dataset (operator-sourced)

Space budget

$180M

Emerging spender · 2026 · Israel Space Agency

Source: Israel Space Agency

National strategy

Strategic Plan for Advancing the Israeli Civilian Space Industry (2022)

Five-year ISA/MOST plan investing ILS 600 million to double space companies to 120+ and quadruple employment to 10,000

Source: Published national space strategies and policies

International space law

InstrumentStatus
Outer Space Treaty 1967Ratified
Rescue Agreement 1968Ratified
Liability Convention 1972Ratified
Registration Convention 1975Not a party
Moon Agreement 1979Not a party
Artemis Accords 2020Signatory (2022-01-26)

Source: Status of international agreements relating to activities in outer space (1 January 2026)

Launch sites

  • Palmachim Airbase (Yavne)Israeli Air Force / Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) · Palmachim, Central District · orbital · since 1988

Source: National launch site roster · ALL IN SPACE compilation

Astronauts

  • Ilan RamonIsraeli Air Force / NASA · first flight 2003 · First Israeli in space; died in Columbia disaster
  • Eytan StibbeAxiom Space · first flight 2022 · Second Israeli in space

Source: Astronaut biographies

Milestones

  • 1983Israel Space Agency (ISA) established
  • 1988First orbital launch from national soil
  • 2003First national in space

Notable missions and contributions

  • Ofek reconnaissance satellite series (1988–present, 8th country to independently launch satellite)
  • Ilan Ramon — Columbia STS-107 (2003)
  • Beresheet lunar lander (2019, SpaceIL — first private lunar attempt)
  • Amos commercial communications sat series (Spacecom)
  • TECSAR radar EO satellite
  • Beresheet 2 (in development)